In 2003 Dr David Kelly was found dead in the woods. Caught in a political vortex, Dr Kelly had been forced to appear before a televised government committee investigating whether he had accused British government figures of planting in a dossier the questionable claim that WMDs could be unleashed from Iraq in 45 minutes. The Hutton Inquiry concluded that Dr Kelly took his own life. But did he? This blog takes a closer look....
Contact: RowenaThursby@onetel.com

Monday, November 12, 2007

Kelly inquest 'should be resumed'

The inquest into the death of Dr David Kelly should be reconvened, says the Lib Dem MP who believes the weapons expert did not commit suicide.

Norman Baker, who claims Dr Kelly may have been killed by anti-Saddam Iraqis, says his death should have been subject to a full coroner's inquest.

Lord Hutton's inquiry into Dr Kelly's death found he had committed suicide.The probe was deemed to remove the need for a full inquest, unless there were "exceptional circumstances".

Oxfordshire coroner Nicholas Gardiner said in 2004 that the Kelly family accepted Lord Hutton's verdict. And he concluded there were "no exceptional reasons" for the inquest to be resumed.

But Mr Baker, whose book The Strange Death of David Kelly has just been published, said there should have been a higher standard of investigation into the scientist's death.Dr Kelly's body was found on Harrowdown Hill, near his home in Southmoor, Oxfordshire, in July 2003.

It was just days after he was named as the suspected source of a BBC report claiming the government "sexed up" a dossier on the threat posed by Iraq.

Mr Baker, MP for Lewes, says he wants Dr Kelly to be given a posthumous honour for his role in pursuing peace and weapons of mass destruction.